Shipboard Wave Measurements in the Southern Ocean

Abstract

Surface wave measurements from ships pose difficulties because of motion contamination. Cifuentes-Lorenzen et al. analyzed laser altimeter and marine X-band radar (MR) wave measurements from the Southern Ocean Gas Exchange Experiment (SOGasEx). They found that wave measurements from both sensors deteriorate precipitously at ship speeds3 m s−1. This study demonstrates that MR can yield accurate wave frequency–direction spectra independent of ship motion. It is based on the same shipborne SOGasEx wave data but uses the MR wave retrieval method proposed by Lund et al. and a novel empirical transfer function (ETF). The ETF eliminates biases in the MR wave spectra by redistributing energy from low to high frequencies. The resulting MR wave frequency–direction spectra are shown to agree well with laser altimeter wave frequency spectra from times when the ship was near stationary and with WAVEWATCH III (WW3) model wave parameters over the full study period.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2017
Source ID
10.1175/jtech-d-16-0212.1

Entities

People

  • Alejandro Cifuentes-lorenzen
  • Björn Lund
  • Christopher J Zappa
  • Hans C. Graber

Organizations

  • Columbia University
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • National Science Foundation
  • Office of Naval Research
  • University of Connecticut
  • University of Miami

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering.
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy